Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysal Ahmed, Mahat M.Ali, Michael Chernus, David Warshofsky, Corey Johnson, Chris Mulkey, Yul Vazquez, Max Martini, Omar Berdouni, Mohamed Ali, Issak Farah Samatar, Catherine Keener.
It seems that no matter what, Tom Hanks is able to draw the viewer in completely into his world, whether in the imagination of a child but in the body of a grown man, a corporate lawyer who contracts HIV in a time of misunderstanding and fear or as Captain Phillips, a veteran freight captain, he has it all.
His performances, whether in films such as Andrew Beckett in the outstanding Philadelphia, Jim Lovell in Apollo 13, Captain John Miller in Saving Private Ryan or even as the voice of Woody, the cowboy made out of timber from the Toy Story franchise, are of such reassuringly high quality that at some point he is surely going to have to be mooted as being one of the great American screen actors of the last 30 years. Whilst audiences quite rightly talk of Al Pacino, Robert De Niro Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson as being the beating heart of American cinematography, Tom Hanks has shown time and time again his absolute star status, his stature and credibility as a consummate professional.
As Captain Richard Phillips, no matter the rights and wrongs of what has been reported in the press about the real events of that fateful voyage, he once again shows just how good he is as an actor who is able to draw you in, to give the cinema goer that extra nudge towards letting the emotions spill out and have a lump in your throat the size of an apple.
For once though he doesn’t have it all his own way on screen and for that Captain Phillips is truly a film to marvel in, to understand the complexity of modern politics and the dilemma of western and African culture, the haves and the have- nots. With his crew at the mercy of pirates in the Somali Basin, the film could have descended into an old fashioned, almost disturbingly patriotic shoot to kill, America versus terrorist picture, with the outcome as easily seen as the mind numbing True Lies. However even if the last third of the film did have elements within that felt as though it could have been a recruitment film for the American Navy, it was never over blown.
What made the film special was the complexity of the Somali pirates, the fear they lived under in which they themselves were treated by their own kind as nothing more than exploited slaves. In Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysal Ahmed and Mahat M. Ali, the pirates had their own distinct personalities, they were given their own fears and prejudices in which gave them a human quality and not as though they were some megalomaniacs out to topple a repressive regime. Barkhad Abdi as the hijack leader Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse was gripping, sensational and a real find as an actor. This young man has the assuredness of a lion in a circus full of ring leaders. A blinding portrayal!
Captain Phillips continues the vein set out this autumn of films destined to be looked at and enjoyed for a long time to come and whilst Rush should still get the nods for two great acting performances this year, it might not be a surprise to see an actor from this film get the nod ahead of Daniel Bruhl and Chris Hemsworth…it just might not be the actor you first think of.
Ian D. Hall